Transmission of material in this release is embargoed USDL-12-1070
until 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, June 1, 2012
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 * cesinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/ces
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- MAY 2012
Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in May (+69,000), and the unemployment rate
was essentially unchanged at 8.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Employment increased in health care, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale
trade but declined in construction. Employment was little changed in most other major
industries.
Household Survey Data
Both the number of unemployed persons (12.7 million) and the unemployment rate (8.2
percent) changed little in May. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.8 percent) and
Hispanics (11.0 percent) edged up in May, while the rates for adult women (7.4 percent),
teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and blacks (13.6 percent) showed little
or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.2 percent in May (not seasonally
adjusted), down from 7.0 percent a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose from 5.1
to 5.4 million in May. These individuals accounted for 42.8 percent of the unemployed.
(See table A-12.)
The civilian labor force participation rate increased in May by 0.2 percentage point
to 63.8 percent, offsetting a decline of the same amount in April. The employment-
population ratio edged up to 58.6 percent in May. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to
as involuntary part-time workers) edged up to 8.1 million over the month. These
individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because
they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In May, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up from 2.2
million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were
not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job
sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had
not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 830,000 discouraged workers in May, about the
same as a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are
persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for
them. The remaining 1.6 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in May
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in May (+69,000), following a similar
change in April (+77,000). In comparison, the average monthly gain was 226,000 in the
first quarter of the year. In May, employment rose in health care, transportation and
warehousing, and wholesale trade, while construction lost jobs. (See table B-1.)
Health care employment continued to increase in May (+33,000). Within the industry,
employment in ambulatory health care services, which includes offices of physicians
and outpatient care centers, rose by 23,000 over the month. Over the year, health care
employment has risen by 340,000.
Transportation and warehousing added 36,000 jobs over the month. Employment gains in
transit and ground passenger transportation (+20,000) and in couriers and messengers
(+5,000) followed job losses in those industries in April. Employment in both industries
has shown little net change over the year. In May, truck transportation added 7,000 jobs.
Employment in wholesale trade rose by 16,000 over the month. Since reaching an employment
low in May 2010, this industry has added 184,000 jobs.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in May (+12,000) following a similar
change in April (+9,000). Job gains averaged 41,000 per month in the first quarter of
this year. In May, employment rose in fabricated metal products (+6,000) and in primary
metals (+4,000). Since its most recent low in January 2010, manufacturing employment has
increased by 495,000.
Construction employment declined by 28,000 in May, with job losses occurring in specialty
trade contractors (-18,000) and in heavy and civil engineering construction (-11,000).
Since reaching a low in January 2011, employment in construction has shown little change
on net.
Employment in professional and business services was essentially unchanged in May. Since
the most recent low point in September 2009, employment in this industry has grown by
1.4 million. In May, job losses in accounting and bookkeeping services (-14,000) and in
services to buildings and dwellings (-14,000) were offset by small gains elsewhere in
the industry.
Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, retail trade,
information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government, changed
little in May.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour
to 34.4 hours in May. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.3 hour to 40.5 hours, and
factory overtime declined by 0.1 hour to 3.2 hours. The average workweek for production
and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours.
(See tables B-2 and B-7.)
In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up
by 2 cents to $23.41. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased
by 1.7 percent. In May, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees edged down by 1 cent to $19.70. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised from +154,000 to
+143,000, and the change for April was revised from +115,000 to +77,000.
_____________
The Employment Situation for June is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 6, 2012,
at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
Economic News Release
Showing posts with label Attack On Labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attack On Labor. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Daily Kos Labor at Daily Kos
As Indiana Republicans rush to pass an anti-union bill before the Super Bowl and its high-profile union players come to town, the state's Democratic legislators are fighting to slow down the rush and get enough votes to block the bill, despite serious possible cost to themselves for taking this stand. Send a message offering your support to Indiana House Democrats.
And more:
Freezing pay for federal workers was not one of President Obama's good moves, either as policy or politics. Now, he's proposing to thaw the freeze a tiny bit, calling for a 0.5 percent pay increase for federal workers.
Despite the tininess of 0.5 percent, Republicans in Congress can be reliably expected to block the raise or try to trade it for another policy the president supports:
Discuss
The New York Times reports on a new study finding that:
But, as you might imagine, if good outcomes for students are what you care about, the policy picture is considerably more complex than this. This is one study, albeit a massive and carefully designed one. It takes its place among many other studies showing great uncertainty about how we can tell who is an effective teacher, how to support good teachers in their work, and what tests tell us about what works and what doesn't. For instance, one of the authors of this study, John Friedman, tells the Times that "The message is to fire people sooner rather than later." But, even if we assume that firing is the only answer and that offering training and support to increase teacher effectiveness shouldn't be tried, highly effective teachers don't spring fully formed from the head of Zeus. Other studies find that teacher effectiveness grows steadily for at least the first five years on the job. So if you fire someone "sooner rather than later," you may have lost a future highly effective teacher.
In other words, this study directs us to take value added measures seriously. But if good policy is what you care about, you don't base your policy on only one study. And, crucially, the question of what policies an emphasis on value added measures point us to remains very much open.
Discuss
At Walmart's fall shareholder meeting, a group of Walmart workers and a United Food and Commercial Workers analyst held a separate event to talk about problems at the company, and how understaffing could cause problems for customers. Despite Walmart's continuing dismissive attitude to workers' attempts to gain a greater voice at the company, one major investor recently took action. Lila Shapiro at Huffington Post reports that:
Discuss
President Obama's American Jobs Act included funding for sorely needed summer jobs for young people—the employment rate for people aged 16 to 24 was more than 10 points lower last July than at the same time five years earlier. Congress, of course, wouldn't pass anything that might create jobs and improve the economy, so Obama's administration once again had to find a way to get something, anything done despite congressional obstruction. Their answer is Summer Jobs+, in which, according to a White House release:
The commitments for paying jobs are an unalloyed good. For kids who can't find jobs, the opportunity to attend skills workshops or be mentored is definitely better than nothing. In the case of unpaid internships the big question is whether young people are actually being mentored and learning useful things. The Obama administration will need to be sure that some oversight is put in place and kids aren't used as free labor without getting any benefits to themselves, something that is true of far too many unpaid internships. That said, the effort to create paying jobs for young people is another important step by this administration to get things done in the face of Republican obstruction in Congress.
Discuss
Daily Kos Labor at Daily Kos
And more:
- The National Labor Relations Board has filed additional unfair labor practices charges against Target in a union organizing drive last summer.
- Income mobility is one of those things that in popular mythology characterizes the United States—anyone can become a millionaire! supposedly—but in reality, not so much.
- I previously wrote about how Stephen Lerner had written an explanation of how something like Occupy Wall Street might work—even if the Occupy movement didn't know it—Harold Meyerson has a nice discussion of Lerner's career and ideas.
- In case you wanted to learn how to misclassify employees.
- Diarist Broke and Unemployed writes "Suddenly broke and unemployed, I put my faith in education and the Wizard of Jobs.
- Idaho's Tom Luna: Worst schools superintendent in the country? Certainly among the most in the pocket of big business; the New York Times details his plan to make kids take online classes regardless of what's good for them.
- Two Idaho anti-union laws were overturned by a federal judge for violating federal law:
The two measures, SB 1007 and 1006, were expansions of Idaho’s right-to-work law. One banned “job targeting programs” that use union dues to subsidize members’ wages as a way to help contractors win bids. The other banned “project labor agreements” through which contractors sign agreements with unionized workers while bidding on public works projects.
- Obama's recess appointments send some bullies a message.
Thirty-seven Indiana Democrats are on their third day of denying Republicans the 67-member quorum necessary to proceed with union-busting "right to work" legislation in the Indiana House of Representatives. The Democrats continue to not show up to the chamber despite now facing fines of $1,000 a day.
Why do Democrats continue to hold out, despite facing very real financial threats to themselves and their families, and despite Republicans holding a 60-40 majority in the House of Representatives? Because Democrats and unions are within striking distance of stopping the bill.
A source close to the process has told Daily Kos that Indiana Democrats are "very close to having the votes to defeat the bill on the floor." A total of 51 votes is needed to defeat the bill, and while Democrats are united in opposition, Republicans are divided.
This information is based on an anonymous source, so obviously take it with a grain of salt. Still, there is an intuitive logic backing it up. With multiple members of the Democratic caucus actually facing the possibility of losing their homes over this, at this point they would not be staying out of the chamber if the fight was hopeless.
As Indiana Democrats and unions scramble to round up the final votes needed to stop this bill, please send a supportive email to the Indiana House Democratic Caucus. It's a small gesture, but right now we need to offer whatever support we can.
Discuss 
Why do Democrats continue to hold out, despite facing very real financial threats to themselves and their families, and despite Republicans holding a 60-40 majority in the House of Representatives? Because Democrats and unions are within striking distance of stopping the bill.
A source close to the process has told Daily Kos that Indiana Democrats are "very close to having the votes to defeat the bill on the floor." A total of 51 votes is needed to defeat the bill, and while Democrats are united in opposition, Republicans are divided.
This information is based on an anonymous source, so obviously take it with a grain of salt. Still, there is an intuitive logic backing it up. With multiple members of the Democratic caucus actually facing the possibility of losing their homes over this, at this point they would not be staying out of the chamber if the fight was hopeless.
As Indiana Democrats and unions scramble to round up the final votes needed to stop this bill, please send a supportive email to the Indiana House Democratic Caucus. It's a small gesture, but right now we need to offer whatever support we can.
Despite the tininess of 0.5 percent, Republicans in Congress can be reliably expected to block the raise or try to trade it for another policy the president supports:
[American Federation of Government Employees President John] Gage said “a real threat” remains that Republicans will successfully enact a pay freeze as part of the payroll tax negotiations. AFGE and other unions believe Republicans should focus on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans instead of federal employees, the vast majority of whom are middle-class wage earners.That sounds about right for Republicans: In exchange for a broad-based middle-class tax cut you'll be skewered for opposing, demand a sacrifice from a particular 2 million-person slice of the middle class that's already taken a big hit.
Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores seem to have a wide-ranging, lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates and greater college matriculation and adult earnings, according to a new study that tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years.The study, by economists Raj Chetty and John Friedman, both of Harvard, and Columbia's Jonah Rockoff, has yet to be reviewed by a journal for publication, but has been widely presented to other economists. It is a 93-page document dense with notations, appendices, tables, and equations, which means it's going to be extremely vulnerable to people on all sides of the education debate pulling out what suits them; based on the volume of tweets about the study by Hari "StudentsLast" Sevugan in the hours after the Times article came out, the corporate reform crowd can't wait to use this one study to start firing teachers.
But, as you might imagine, if good outcomes for students are what you care about, the policy picture is considerably more complex than this. This is one study, albeit a massive and carefully designed one. It takes its place among many other studies showing great uncertainty about how we can tell who is an effective teacher, how to support good teachers in their work, and what tests tell us about what works and what doesn't. For instance, one of the authors of this study, John Friedman, tells the Times that "The message is to fire people sooner rather than later." But, even if we assume that firing is the only answer and that offering training and support to increase teacher effectiveness shouldn't be tried, highly effective teachers don't spring fully formed from the head of Zeus. Other studies find that teacher effectiveness grows steadily for at least the first five years on the job. So if you fire someone "sooner rather than later," you may have lost a future highly effective teacher.
In other words, this study directs us to take value added measures seriously. But if good policy is what you care about, you don't base your policy on only one study. And, crucially, the question of what policies an emphasis on value added measures point us to remains very much open.
On Tuesday, the Netherlands' biggest pension fund, Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds, with more than $300 billion in assets, announced that it was blacklisting the largest retailer in the world for noncompliance with the United Nations' Global Compact principles. The Global Compact presents a set of core values relating to human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption efforts. Sixteen other companies were blacklisted along with Walmart, nearly all of them excluded for producing chemical or nuclear weapons that violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.The event during the shareholder meeting played a part in ABP's decision:
ABP said on Wednesday that the decision to pull its investment from Walmart was not hasty. The fund declined to say how much money is involved, but according to ABP records, it had invested some 95 million euros, worth $121 million today, in U.S. Walmart stores as of June 30, 2011. The fund first sent a letter to Walmart executives in 2008, a year after ABP formalized its responsible-investing policy. Four years later, after many meetings with employees and all levels of management, ABP concluded the retail giant was still falling short.
But [ABP senior sustainability specialist Anna] Pot, who attended that meeting, thought it was useful. Although it was not the only factor driving ABP's decision to divest, it was among them. Also high on the list: a job description found on Walmart's website last June, seeking a new director of labor relations whose listed duties included "support continued union free workplace."There's an interesting contrast here. When Walmart workers rally outside corporate headquarters or speak to shareholders, Walmart comments in variously dismissive or patronizing ways. When a major pension fund that has invested more than $120 million in the company pulls out, Walmart declines to comment at all. But you have to wonder if it will change the tone the next time workers try to get Walmart's attention.
Workers are once again gathering at the Indiana statehouse as Republican legislators rush a so-called "right to work" bill through to passage. Once passed—and with Republicans holding commanding majorities in both the House and Senate, it will be passed—the law will force union members to pay for the union to represent their coworkers who choose not to be union members.
The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday evening that:
11:55 AM PT: One possible reason for the rush is that, in a few weeks, the Super Bowl will be bringing some prominent union members to Indianapolis. In a statement, the NFL Players Association says:
Discuss 
The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday evening that:
Usually bills are heard independently in the House and Senate, taking a few weeks in each chamber to be debated and voted upon.Friday morning, as the hearing began:
This year, the House and Senate have scheduled an unusual joint hearing on Friday for the “right to work” bill, and Bosma said it would be available then for possible amendment by the full House on Monday and a final vote in the House on Tuesday.
This morning, the House chamber — where the hearing is taking place — is packed with lobbyists and news media on the floor, with the public gallery filled, mainly with union members. Others are in the hallway, watching through the large glass windows at the back of the chamber.In a sense they are. They're awaiting the passage of a law that will not only fracture solidarity in the workplace but will drive down wages and working conditions for all Indiana workers. It's a sad day.
But so far, the protesters are silent, as if at a wake.
11:55 AM PT: One possible reason for the rush is that, in a few weeks, the Super Bowl will be bringing some prominent union members to Indianapolis. In a statement, the NFL Players Association says:
To win, we have to work together and look out for one another. Today, even as the city of Indianapolis is exemplifying that teamwork in preparing to host the Super Bowl, politicians are looking to destroy it trying to ram through so-called “right-to-work” legislation.
“Right-to-work” is a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights. It’s not about jobs or rights, and it’s the wrong priority for Indiana.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the private sector generated 212,000 jobs in December and the official unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent. It was the best job creation showing since April 2011 and the best jobless rate since February 2009. The numbers are seasonally adjusted. The number of officially unemployed is now 13.1 million with 5.6 million of those unemployed for six months or longer. Both the civilian labor force participation rate at 64 percent and the employment-population ratio at 58.5 percent were unchanged over the last month. About 50,000 Americans left the labor force in December.
If job creation were to continue at this level, it would take until July 2014 to return to the number of Americans who were employed in December 2007 when the recession started.
Revisions for payroll employment in October raised the numbers from 100,000 to 112,000 and for November lowered them from 120,000 to 100,000.
An alternative measure of unemployment called U6 includes part-time workers who want full-time work and some but not all of the millions of people who have become too discouraged to look for work. That number fell from 15.6 percent to 15.2 percent.
Here's what the numbers looked like for the most recent five Decembers:
December 2007: + 84,000
December 2008: -619,000
December 2009: -130,000
December 2010: +152,000
December 2011: +200,000
In the past 12 months, the best previous increases reported by the BLS were 210,000 in September, 217,000 in April and 235,000 in February.
Expectations had increased somewhat Thursday when ADP reported 325,000 private sector jobs had been created. Why such a gap between ADP and the BLS? Year-end reporting by ADP may reflect an accounting adjustment that has overstated job gains in the past.
The BLS jobs report is the product of a pair of surveys, one of business establishments and the Current Population Survey of households. The establishment survey determines how many new jobs were added. The CPS provides data that determine the official "headline" unemployment rate, also known as U3. That's the number that fell to 8.5 percent.
• Employment in the retail trade rose 28,000
• Transportation and warehousing rose 50,000
• Leisure and hospitality rose 24,000
• Mining rose 7000
• Professional and business services
• Health care rose 23,000
• Manufacturing rose 23,000
• Government employment fell 12,000
• The average workweek for production and non-supervisory workers rose to 34.4 hours.
• The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $23.24.
To get a better handle on the BLS monthly job report, I urge you to read my post, Some advice on reading the numbers.
Discuss If job creation were to continue at this level, it would take until July 2014 to return to the number of Americans who were employed in December 2007 when the recession started.
Revisions for payroll employment in October raised the numbers from 100,000 to 112,000 and for November lowered them from 120,000 to 100,000.
An alternative measure of unemployment called U6 includes part-time workers who want full-time work and some but not all of the millions of people who have become too discouraged to look for work. That number fell from 15.6 percent to 15.2 percent.
Here's what the numbers looked like for the most recent five Decembers:
December 2007: + 84,000
December 2008: -619,000
December 2009: -130,000
December 2010: +152,000
December 2011: +200,000
In the past 12 months, the best previous increases reported by the BLS were 210,000 in September, 217,000 in April and 235,000 in February.
Expectations had increased somewhat Thursday when ADP reported 325,000 private sector jobs had been created. Why such a gap between ADP and the BLS? Year-end reporting by ADP may reflect an accounting adjustment that has overstated job gains in the past.
The BLS jobs report is the product of a pair of surveys, one of business establishments and the Current Population Survey of households. The establishment survey determines how many new jobs were added. The CPS provides data that determine the official "headline" unemployment rate, also known as U3. That's the number that fell to 8.5 percent.
[Mesirow Financial chief economist Diane Swonk expects] the December report to be better than those in some of the coming months, as Europe’s debt crisis continues and Washington budget and tax talks come back into focus.One aspect of newly created jobs that don't get much play in the media is wages. And there the news has not been particularly good:
“I’m looking at a slowdown in growth as we move into 2012 from the fourth quarter… we’ve gotten an uneven recovery that’s accelerating. That’s kind of like ‘a glass half full,’” she said. “I think we’re going to have some rocky months ahead. I think we’re going to have a slowdown in growth in the first half of the year with Europe still volatile, wreaking havoc on the stock market. Keeping volatility high just keeps people gun shy from hiring more.”
“If we can get between 100,000 and 200,000 (monthly nonfarm payrolls) for the whole year, that would make me extremely happy,” she said.
Trying to persuade locked-out workers in Canada to accept a sharp cut in pay, Caterpillar Inc. is citing lower wages elsewhere. But instead of pointing to the usual models of cheap and pliant labor, such as China or Mexico, it is using a more surprising example: the U.S.Among the details in the report today:
Wage and benefit costs at a Caterpillar rail-equipment plant in LaGrange, Ill., are less than half of those at the company's locomotive-assembly plant in London, Ontario, Caterpillar says.
The big equipment maker's stance illustrates how U.S. manufacturing, until recently given up for dead by many Americans, has become more competitive globally. Though the U.S. is hardly a low-wage country, it has become much more efficient, making it more attractive for global manufacturers. U.S. wage growth has been minimal, and manufacturers have found ways to use more-flexible work practices and increased automation to make the same amount of goods with far fewer people.
• Employment in the retail trade rose 28,000
• Transportation and warehousing rose 50,000
• Leisure and hospitality rose 24,000
• Mining rose 7000
• Professional and business services
• Health care rose 23,000
• Manufacturing rose 23,000
• Government employment fell 12,000
• The average workweek for production and non-supervisory workers rose to 34.4 hours.
• The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $23.24.
To get a better handle on the BLS monthly job report, I urge you to read my post, Some advice on reading the numbers.
[T]he Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships.Currently, 70,000 commitments for "Learn and Earn" paying jobs have been made, from nonprofits to corporate giants like Bank of America to federal agencies. The other 110,000 commitments currently on the table are for unpaid internships and other occasions to learn "Life Skills" and "Work Skills" through workshops and mentoring.
The commitments for paying jobs are an unalloyed good. For kids who can't find jobs, the opportunity to attend skills workshops or be mentored is definitely better than nothing. In the case of unpaid internships the big question is whether young people are actually being mentored and learning useful things. The Obama administration will need to be sure that some oversight is put in place and kids aren't used as free labor without getting any benefits to themselves, something that is true of far too many unpaid internships. That said, the effort to create paying jobs for young people is another important step by this administration to get things done in the face of Republican obstruction in Congress.
It's been less than six weeks since New Hampshire Republicans failed to override Democratic Gov. John Lynch's veto of a so-called "right to work" law, which would force union members to pay the costs of representing coworkers who chose not to join a union.
Thwarted in that, Republicans apparently came back to the 2012 legislative session determined to work something anti-union into their busy schedule of voting to make gun permits optional and to dismantle consumer protections on heating oil. Thursday the state House passed a "right to work" bill applying to state workers by a 212-128 margin. That's a big margin, but since Democrats only hold 103 seats in the House, it actually represents bipartisan opposition to the bill.
New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie said in a statement:
Discuss 
Thwarted in that, Republicans apparently came back to the 2012 legislative session determined to work something anti-union into their busy schedule of voting to make gun permits optional and to dismantle consumer protections on heating oil. Thursday the state House passed a "right to work" bill applying to state workers by a 212-128 margin. That's a big margin, but since Democrats only hold 103 seats in the House, it actually represents bipartisan opposition to the bill.
New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie said in a statement:
While HB 383 only impacts state employees as currently written, it opens a back door for the Speaker and other Tea Party extremists to impose a right-to-work on all New Hampshire workers and businesses. Our legislators' continued opposition to the right-to-work law in any and all forms the Speaker that New Hampshire's people need jobs more than they need political attacks on workers.Since the state Senate passed the comprehensive RTW bill and had the votes to override the governor's veto of that, it's extremely likely this bill will pass the Senate. Once again, it's likely to come down to a veto override attempt.
Verizon and its unionized workers have still not reached a new contract agreement, despite the workers ending their strike over the summer when management said it would bargain in good faith. Workers have kept up the pressure, including with assists from Occupy Wall Street, but they still have no new contract.
Now, Verizon has sent its 45,000 union workers a video explaining earnestly why they should give in to the company's demands. The Communications Workers of America, one of the unions representing Verizon workers, has posted an edited-for-time version of the video, which features executives speaking earnestly in front of rows of cubicles, as if cubicles and not big offices are their usual environs. The video details company demands such as concessions on health care and the expectation that workers learn to do multiple jobs, with sales reps handling some tech functions and tech support workers handling some sales. CWA has also made a parody video, which you can see above, that cuts to the heart of how Verizon is talking to its workers.
The posted excerpt of the original video closes with an executive saying that "We're not asking you to make any adjustments that the other 135,000 employees at Verizon haven't already made to help keep our company strong." That's a pretty direct statement that Verizon is asking for a complete cave on the part of the unions. Because that's the point of a union, right? You join together with other workers and bargain collectively so that you're stronger than you would be as individuals and don't have to just accept whatever management wants to let you have. Verizon is in effect saying, "We already made our other workers take this shitty deal so we could make huge profits and pay our top executives tens of millions of dollars per year. Now we're demanding the same of you, and it would be so much more convenient if you'd lie down and take it."
Discuss Now, Verizon has sent its 45,000 union workers a video explaining earnestly why they should give in to the company's demands. The Communications Workers of America, one of the unions representing Verizon workers, has posted an edited-for-time version of the video, which features executives speaking earnestly in front of rows of cubicles, as if cubicles and not big offices are their usual environs. The video details company demands such as concessions on health care and the expectation that workers learn to do multiple jobs, with sales reps handling some tech functions and tech support workers handling some sales. CWA has also made a parody video, which you can see above, that cuts to the heart of how Verizon is talking to its workers.
The posted excerpt of the original video closes with an executive saying that "We're not asking you to make any adjustments that the other 135,000 employees at Verizon haven't already made to help keep our company strong." That's a pretty direct statement that Verizon is asking for a complete cave on the part of the unions. Because that's the point of a union, right? You join together with other workers and bargain collectively so that you're stronger than you would be as individuals and don't have to just accept whatever management wants to let you have. Verizon is in effect saying, "We already made our other workers take this shitty deal so we could make huge profits and pay our top executives tens of millions of dollars per year. Now we're demanding the same of you, and it would be so much more convenient if you'd lie down and take it."
A same-sex marriage bill failed by a narrow margin in Maryland last year, but the fight for equality hasn't ended in the state. Now, unions are getting involved. In the video above:
(Via Pam Spaulding)
Discuss “At 1199 SEIU, we support working families, not just certain families,” Ezekiel Jackson, an organizer for health-care workers in Maryland and the District, says in the video, in which he dons a Baltimore Orioles baseball cap. “That’s why bringing marriage equality to Maryland is important. It’s about making all families, including committed gay and lesbian couples, and their kids, stronger.”That's part of a broader push by unions:
Nationally, SEIU has been on record supporting marriage rights for gay couples since 2004. The service workers union was heavily involved in New York last year when that state passed a same-sex marriage bill.Unions plan to mobilize members to take action supporting the bill, including lobbying their representatives, and at a rally focused in part on marriage. Leaders say they will also consider how legislators vote on this issue in making endorsement decisions.
In Maryland, labor leaders are hoping to build upon that momentum with a broader coalition. At a November convention, the AFL-CIO affiliates unanimously passed a resolution supporting passage of legislation that [Gov. Martin] O’Malley has pledged to sponsor this year.
(Via Pam Spaulding)
Indiana Democrats are buying time against the so-called right to work law Republican legislators are pushing as their top priority in the state. Democratic state House members, who last year left the state to deny Republicans the quorum they needed to pass anti-worker and other bad bills, did not show up for the first day of the 2012 legislative session Wednesday:
Discuss 
House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said this was no walk-out, but a "filibuster."Meanwhile, union members and allies are streaming to the statehouse to lobby their legislators, hoping to get some Republicans to think twice before voting for the anti-union bill. However, the Indiana AFL-CIO reported Wednesday on Twitter that several legislators refused to meet with constituents. Workers are continuing the pressure at the statehouse on Thursday.
Democrats, he said, want "to prevent a bill being rammed down the public's throat. We refuse to let the most controversial public policy bill of the decade be railroaded through with the public being denied their fair and adequate input."
Instead of a joint hearing on Friday, Bauer said, Democrats want the legislature to hold hearings around the state on the issue. But while he said Democrats would not go to Illinois as they did in the 2011 stand-off, he did not promise Democrats would return if those hearings were held, saying only that they would be "very helpful" and "some kind of a carrot to the stick that they've given the people."
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
Seven Awful Things Ann Coulter Just Said About Occupy Wall Street
Seven Awful Things Ann Coulter Just Said About Occupy Wall Street
Comments (116) 
Categories: Occupy
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| The world does not exist unless Ann Coulter coats it in awfulness. |
This morning, she telephoned Bryan Sussman at KSFO, San Francisco's official media home for people who complain all day that their views have no media home. As you might expect, they talked about her book (SPOILER: The villain is liberals!) as well as the Occupy movement. A total pro, she managed to say at least seven awful things in her twenty minutes:
1. "I knew there would be mob uprisings again. They are demonic."
2. "What I like most about them is that they have no point."
3. "At the protest in Tel Aviv in Israel, they set up guillotines in the square. And you have the computer-generated voice speaking on behalf of Occupy Wall Street saying 'The voice of the people is anonymous. We are legion, for we are many' - directly from the demon in scripture."
4. "I guess it's fun to destroy stuff. As they found out during the French Revolution, it's lots of fun to just start randomly murdering people - this is the way it always is with mobs."
5. "Maybe it will take down a government, but it will be Obama's government."
6. "Remember the lesson from my book: It just took a few shootings at Kent State to shutthat down for good."
7. After Sussman declared that he wished that the arrested Bank of America occupiers had been thrown in with the general population of prisoners, and then admitted that he did not know whether or not they had, Coulter compared the "special treatment" the protesters receive at the hands of police to that of French aristocrats who brought along servants when imprisoned. NOTE: This is too stupid to transcribe.
Also, when mentioning Bill Ayers's "homosexual lover," Coulter said "homosexual" with the same sneering disbelief that cowboys in picante sauce commercials apply to "New York City." And mentioning Bill Ayers's "homosexual lover" during a conversation about Occupy Wall Street is just as relevant as me right now mentioning, say, that chunky kid from The Bad News Bears -- the original, not the remake. What ever happened to him?
(HE WAS PROBABLY GUILLOTINED BY OCCUPY WALL STREET.)
Finally, because she's a pro, Coulter laughed politely at the morning-talk dumbassery of Sussman and company, who made a game of coining new names for the Occupy crowd: "Occu-peers," "defocrats," "Communist Republic of American People."
This proves yet again that outrage is easier than comedy.
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